An approach to the oral history of the Zeferino Paredes Ejido, Sinaloa, Mexico. The importance of preserving memory for new generations

Abstract

The objective is to analyze various episodes for an oral history of the Zeferino Paredes Ejido and the importance of preserving memory for new generations. This rural community was established as an ejido by presidential decree in 1968, which granted 850 hectares to 82 ejido members, primarily from Villa Juárez (Culiacán), the mountains of Durango, and Guanajuato. Our hypothesis is that for 58 years the Ejido shaped its family, agrarian, livestock, agricultural, social, and cultural life, thanks to the efforts of the men and women who forged a better future. The preservation and strengthening of collective identity will be reinforced through intergenerational interaction and by ensuring that new generations understand the efforts of those first inhabitants. Therefore, we employ oral history as a historiographical approach and methodology to unravel, analyze, and interpret the past. Oral testimonies will form the basis for a history of the Matria focused on its founding, land distribution, deforestation; livestock, agricultural, cheese-making, migratory, and cultural dynamics, among others.